A representative of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians says that if Escambia County is successful in its attempt to collect taxes from the group's enterprises, that the Wind Creek casinos in Atmore and Wetumpka will close down, according to a story in the Brewton Standard.

The ongoing dispute between the PCI and the Escambia County Commission has reached the federal level with a letter sent from Commission chairman David Stokes to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior urging the department to act on a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the commission feels renders PCI subject to county taxes.

Mothershed said PCI gives $100,000 a year to the county commission to spend how they see fit, the story said, and, he pointed out that while PCI does not pay taxes on the land in trust, their remaining acreage is on county property and is subject to county taxes.

Stokes said closing the casino has never been the mission of the ECC, but said PCI is causing more harm than good by not paying taxes. “That would be an unintended consequence,” Stokes was quoted in the story as saying. “They are the ones putting jobs at risk because of their opposition to pay taxes like everyone else.”